Grape Slushies
by xoxoSILxoxo
Summary: She swung the door open, searching for some sign of the boy that had been hiding in the closet. Finally, she leaned down picking up the only proof he had actually been there. Fingering the material, she slipped on the letterman jacket that read Puckerman.
1. The Beginning

**Very brief fever dream I had. It seriously came to me at 1 in the morning and the next thing I knew I was at my computer hitting my keyboard like it owed me money.**

As Puck got out of his truck he was instantly greeted by Quinn. He looked at her suspiciously. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with me." He said gruffly.

Quinn spoke quietly. "I changed my mind." Puck's face lit up. "But…" She continued. "I need you to prove your loyalty." She said.

He nodded. "How?"

Quinn smiled sweetly. "I don't want Finn with Rachel." She blurted out.

Puck looked confused. "There's nothing I can do about that."

Quinn smiled again. "Actually, there is."

***

Puck decided to start slow. Which was not usually what he would do. Because he was Noah Puckerman, and he could usually get any girl naked in less than five minutes. With the exception of Rachel Berry. So he had to take it slow. Like, really, really, slow.

So he started with a slushie. Grape to be exact. Sure he had pulled the trick before but it seemed to win her over in creepy romantic gesture type of way. He didn't even give it to her directly, he just put it in her locker, and watched from afar as she found it inside. It didn't have a note, just a slushie, that happened to be her favorite flavor.

Other than that he acted like nothing at all was different. When he saw her eying him curiously in Glee he didn't even acknowledge she was in the room. But apparently Quinn noticed because she keep flashing him _whatever-you're-doing-keep-it-up_ glances. He just smiled and discreetly gave her the thumbs up signal.

This continued on for several weeks, him just leaving the slushies in her locker, but it wasn't until she took one of them to Glee did he take the next big step. Which was actually very small.

He gave it to her in person. When she walked into the Glee room, he walked up to her and handed her the slushie, ignoring the looks from everyone else. Rachel's eyes widened knowingly, but she took the slushie without saying anything, like she was expecting just that.

This continued for several more weeks. Sometimes he gave them to her at lunch, sometimes during Glee. But each time she didn't say anything, and he started to consider it a normal habit, a new part of his routine. But then Quinn confronted him.

"Look, I get that you're trying to be all romantic or whatever, but you need to step it up. You don't have that much time!" She hissed at him under her breath. "This baby will be born before you even kiss her!"

"Babe, relax. I got this." He rolled his eyes. Quinn's plan was unbelievable. It would never work. But if he wanted to be a part of this baby's life he had to try.

_"Wait, so let me get this straight. You want me to seduce Rachel Berry?" He asked as he walked down the hall with Quinn by his side. Quinn nodded. "Why?" Puck asked._

_ Quinn sighed. "Because, when Finn finds out he won't want anything to do with her. And that's the only way to prevent something from going on between them!" She whined._

_ "Look." Puck said. "I may fuck a lot of girls, but if it's gonna be quick, they know that. I don't lie to them just to get sex then dump them, and that's exactly what you're asking me to do."_

_ Quinn rolled her eyes. "Don't go all high-and-mighty on me Puck. Anyway, I know what I'm asking you to do is wrong, but please, just do it, for me." She blinked up at him. He sighed._

_ "Even if I agreed to, there's no way it would happen, Berry's just not like that."_

_ "Look Puck. What were the chances of you impregnating the Captain of the Celibacy club? But you did. I'm living proof of that. If anyone can seduce a horny virgin, it's you."_

_ Puck didn't know what to say, cause she did have a point._

_ "Fine." He said finally. "I'll try. But no guarantees." He said pointedly._

_ Quinn smiled sweetly. "That's all I'm asking."_

***

Rachel glanced at the clock. Puck was five minutes late with her slushie. Every single day he found her and gave her one, and she was actually starting to enjoy it. It had started out as just grape, but sometimes he mixed it up with other flavors, mostly cherry. In fact by now she was sure that cherry was his favorite flavor because he often came in drinking those.

Sure the Glee kids had asked lots of questions about the daily slushies, even some Cheerios she didn't know got suspicious. But whenever they asked she just shrugged it off, and people started to accept that. But of course Finn was the hardest.

She heard footsteps coming down from the hall, and immediately straightened up. But instead of Puck, it was Kurt.

"Waiting for your slushie I presume?" He asked smugly. She frowned a little, but nodded anyway. "Well," Kurt continued. "I don't think you're getting one today. I saw Puck talking to Quinn down at the end of the hall." Rachel's frown deepened and her eyebrows furrowed. She sighed and walked out of the room.

But she had only made it about half-way down the hall when a strong pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her into the supply closet. She stifled a scream and prepared to attack whoever it was, though she was almost sure it was Jacob. But it wasn't, it was Puck.

He made no attempt to do to anything to her; he just looked at her and said, "Here's your slushie."

She tilted her head, wondering if she should say anything. But she did anyway. "Why do you keep giving me slushies? Don't get me wrong, I greatly enjoy the taste but it seems a little strange, I never thought we were friends."

Puck thought about this before answering. "Well, I've thrown a lot of slushies at you, and eventually I decided I'd give you one to drink for every time I slushied you."

Her eyebrows rose as she took a sip."You counted?"

"I guessed a lot." He admitted. She nodded solemnly.

"Well, thank you. I appreciate your apology. But why the closet?"

He shrugged. "I was feeling spontaneous." He paused. "Whoa, how do I know that?" He laughed a little. "You're rubbing off on my Berry."

She smiled. "Are you referring to my impressive vocabulary?"

He laughed a little more. "Basically."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you want to know where I get it from?" She asked mockingly. "I _read_." He rolled his eyes and attempted toward the door.

"Wait Noah!" He turned back to her smugly.

"You don't want me to leave?"

"No, but if we both leave at the same time what are people going to think?" She pointed out. He nodded understandingly.

"You wanna go first?" She nodded.

"Thank you Noah." She was unsure of what to do so she gave him an awkward one-armed hug before leaving. She glanced both ways before stepping out in the hall, trying to make sure no one saw her. However a voice calling her name alerted her that she had failed miserably.

"Rachel! What are you doing?" Kurt asked, with Mercedes at his side. Rachel started away from the closet and down the hall, attempting to ignore them.

"Was Puck in there?" Mercedes asked.

Rachel stopped and shook her head. "What would make you think that?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Maybe the fact that you went in there without a slushie and came out with one?" Rachel started walking again. But this time they didn't follow her.

She wasn't sure how Kurt could be such a gossiper, being in the Glee club and not necessarily considered popular, but all she knew was that whispers followed her wherever she went.

When she walked down the halls all she heard was '_supply closet_' or _'her and Puck'_. And to be honest it was getting quite annoying, and she was on the verge of interrupting a group of freshman to tell them it wasn't true when Puck approached her again.

"I'm pretty sure they found out, because now everyone's congratulating me for relieving you of your virginity." Rachel's face grew bright red.

"Did you tell them it wasn't true?" She asked through her teeth.

"Course. But it's kinda hard, considering my reputation and all. Damn, I'm going kill Hummel."

"I can see why you would want to but it wasn't me." Kurt said defensively, interrupting. "Someone else most of saw you because I didn't say a word." He turned to Rachel. "Did you see anyone else after you left?" He asked her.

She looked through her memory, trying to remember. She shook her head. "Well, I mean, I passed Quinn, but…"

***

"Shit!" Puck cursed loudly, than practically ran down the hall to a triumphant looking Quinn. "Quinn what the hell? I didn't get it done."

She rolled her eyes. "But everyone _thinks_ you did. And that's good enough." She smiled. "You've done your job." She smiled sweetly, and then reached up on her toes to kiss him on the lips. Puck didn't know whether he should pull away or not, but she hadn't kissed him since that night, and it felt pretty damn good too. So he let her kiss him, and even kissed her back a little too. But he couldn't help but feel like it wasn't as good as it should be. Maybe it was because most of the hall was now looking in their direction (including Rachel), or maybe it was because he felt guilty for basically ruining the tiny bit of social life Rachel had left. But whatever it was, he shrugged it off, and kissed the girl he had worked so hard for.

***

Rachel wasn't sure what to feel when she saw Quinn and Puck kiss in the hallway. She felt a bit of angry, curiosity, and even a tiny fragment of longing in there. She hadn't been kissed like that in a long time. She imagined it felt very good.

But a small part of her felt happy, maybe now the rumors would cancel out, seeing as most everyone was witnessing this moment. Still, she was completely unsettled, as she crossed her arms, and closed her locker.

The thing that surprised her the most, was that the slushies still continued. Anonymously of course, sitting in places where only she would find them. And they were grape, always grape.

** You see, I'm evil like this. I don't give you what you want, because most of you want kissing, or confessions of love, or something a lot steamier. But I don't because I'm evil. I get your hopes up, then I let you down. I won't be adding onto this, but here's the catch. If you really want to, you can. I give you guys full creative liberty to add your own stuff onto this and sort of repost it, as long as you know and give me credit because I came up with this first. Whether you continue this in your mind or on the forum is up to you. But remember, I know lots of lawyers, so if you do, give me credit.**

**--SiL3nT**


	2. Fire And Ice

Rachel took a long sip of her slushie, trying to squeeze out all of it. It made a faint slurping sound, signaling that it was empty. Rachel trust her head back and tapped the cup, determined to drink every last drop.

A small chuckle reminded her that someone else was in the room with her. She glanced up at Finn sheepishly. He smiled at her, clearly glad she had liked his gift.

And she had, by all means of course. But there was still on thing that kept bothering her. She had no idea why this small detail seemed so monumentally important, but the slushie he had gotten her was cherry. Which made her upset because this was not her favorite flavor. Not the fact that cherry slushies reminded her of Puck. Because that definitely wasn't it.

"It's just nice to taste a slushie that _wasn't _thrown on my face first." He nodded, laughing a little, but they both knew where his mind went. Off the icy coldness that petrified you and the awful stinging of corn syrup in your eye. She actually felt a little worse for him than herself, she had been able to clean Puck off before too much damage was done, but Quinn had very little experience in that field. She smiled to herself; sometimes it was of great advantage to be a social pariah.

She paused for a moment, considering this thought fully. She was used to the attacks and knew how to deal with them, which was surely better than the alternative, which was not being ready. But then again there's always the chance you'd never be attacked. Still, too much pressure, if you slipped once, you'd fall all the way down.

She sighed to herself, wondering if her life would be like that when she was famous. Because one day, there was no doubting it, she would be.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" She nodded. "You and Puck…" She shook her head almost immediately.

"No. Not true." His eyebrows rose at her quick denial.

"Was any of it?" She winced mentally. She couldn't bring herself to lie to him. He took her silence as a conformation. "So the closet…?"

She winced again, verbally this time. "That part was true. But nothing actually happened."

His eyebrows remanded raised. "So you two were in a small supply closet together for no reason?"

"He gave me a slushie." She explained.

"In a closet?"

"He said he was feeling spontaneous." Finn was silent for a moment.

"He used that word?" Rachel sighed. This was sounding less believable by the minute. Finn sighed too.

"Sorry. I shouldn't be questioning you like this. You said nothing happened, and I believe you. I was just kind of wondering you know," She smiled, glad he trusted her.

***

"Sup, Berry. I saw you playing house with Hudson." Puck greeted.

Rachel had the sudden urge to stick her tongue out at him. So she did, but was taken completely by surprise when he grabbed it. He inspected her tongue, dually noting it was redder than normal.

"Been drinking other men's slushies Berry?"

"Noah! Let go of my tongue!" She said, but it came out more like. "Naa! Let o' of my ong!"

He laughed. "Not till you try and say, 'I was born on a pirate ship'." She rolled her eyes.

"Naa, you so imathhr…" Dang it. She had meant to say, 'Noah you're so immature.' Growing instantly tired of being stripped of her speech, she slapped his hand, and reeled in her tongue. He wrinkled his nose as he looked at his hand, then wiped it against her sweater.

She rolled her eyes, not bothering to flinch. "Noah Puckerman still thinks girls have cooties, who would've thought?"

He rolled his. "Just you, Berry, just you." He drew back his hand quickly, but Rachel could see the redness. She grabbed it, then looked up at him disbelievingly.

"You've been fighting." It wasn't a question. His knuckles were bloody, and there were bruises lined up along the edge of his hand.

"Some guys were trash talking Quinn." She smiled.

"You were defending her honor?" She couldn't help but find this very sweet, barbaric or not. He shrugged, not wanting to answer. His head turned a little, to face Kurt, who was standing still, watching them carefully. Rachel immediately let go of his hand. "Bye." She turned away, and quickened her pace. But no matter how far away she was, there was nothing stopping Kurt from getting to her.

"_Other _men's slushies?" He asked, having no trouble keeping up with her. She kept her head straight forward. "Finn right? Wait, hold on." He stuck his tongue out and mouthed 'pirate ship'. She glanced at him disbelievingly. He giggled. "You are very cute together, despite the massive size difference. It's a bit of a clichéd Tony and Maria romance, if you know what I mean."

She had to fight the urge to cover her ears and run away screaming. Instead she held her head up high, and said like any self-respecting woman would, "He has a girlfriend. She's pregnant. It wouldn't matter if he liked me that way or not. It won't happen." She said primly. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"You said the exact same thing about Finn."

Rachel opened her mouth, and closed it again like a fish out of water. Because really, he had a point. But unless Quinn slept with someone else she didn't know about, the parentage was clear. He wasn't going to abandon his kid, she knew that much. But just as she opened her mouth to say so, the first bell rang, and she ran to her classroom.

Chemistry. This was good, it was the one of the only classes she had with Finn. Unfortunately, Quinn was in this class too, she was Finn's usual partner, but seeing the circumstances, Rachel has been graced with that pleasure.

"Hi Finn." He smiled and slid out a chair for her.

"What's up?" Rachel thought for a moment as she thought of something interesting to say. 'Well, everybody thinks I slept with you ex-best friend, but you don't, for which I'm very thankful.' Was definitely out. But so was 'Kurt thinks I'm in love with Noah, which I may be, but he's currently dating your pregnant ex-girlfriend and I may finally have a chance with you.' So for the first time in her life she was forced to say, "Nothing really," and lie. "And you?"

"Oh you know. Just stuff. I was thinking about going for basketball now that football's over. You think I'd be any good?"

She nodded sincerely. "Well, you're certainly tall enough." His eyes lit up.

"That's exactly what I thought! And you know, I'm not sure but I think it might help with my dancing, coz basketball requires a little more coordination, and it might loosen me up!" He prattled enthusiastically. She smiled back; somewhat unsure of how basketball could help you dance. Right now she was just proud he knew what 'coordination' was and used it properly in a sentence.

"Are you going to be okay in basketball?" She asked. "Noah told me- I heard that _Puck_ was going for basketball too." She switched tactics in mid-sentence, not wanting to freak Finn out.

He tensed up a little. "Well, I mean, I can't avoid him forever." Rachel nodded solemnly. They spent the rest of the class laughing and doing to lab. (Well technically, Rachel did the lab, Finn didn't really get past the first question) and they tried their best to ignore to incredulous looks from Quinn.

***

"It. Didn't. Work." Quinn said simply, finding him after class. It took a moment for him to realize what she was talking about, but when he did it came as no surprise. Of course it hadn't worked, Finn trusted her.

But he still asked, "Are you sure?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Are you kidding? In chemistry they wouldn't stop laughing and talking, and I swear I saw them drinking _slushies _together during lunch! Everyone believes the rumor but him! He needs proof." She said angrily.

He groaned. "Do you want me to try again? Is that what you asking? Quinn, this is pointless. Even if I did, Berry's in actress, a damn good one too. The only way he'd believe it is if she got pregnant, or he walked in on it. And I'm not that desperate." He argued.

"Trust me. This will work." She said determinedly. "It will."

***

After Glee was over he hung around longer than necessary. He was waiting for Rachel to come out. He looped around the parking lot several times until he saw her standing at the edge of the concrete, making her way toward her house. He knew for a fact she still walked on Tuesday's and Thursdays. That was her thing. He pulled up in front of her and rolled the window down.

"Want a ride?" She stared at him for a few long moment. _Shit._ He thought. _She better say yes._

"Umm, sure…" She said unsurely. He reached across the front and popped open the door for her, he could she her eyes sparkle a little at his small gesture. She slid in the car, smiling a little longer than necessary.

He paused before turning the keys, taking a second to remember where her house was. He nodded to himself as he routed the best way to get there. He glanced over at where she was sitting, hands to herself, looking uncomfortable.

"This is… different." She choked out. He swelled with private satisfaction, he had made Rachel Berry speechless.

"You can put something on." He commented, starting the ignition.

"What happened to your number one rule?" She asked. It took him a second to process that. They had only dated for a week and she still remembered his rules. Number one, no touching the radio while he was driving. He smirked.

"You still remember that." She shrugged.

"I have a good memory." She glanced out at the road. "And apparently, so do you. You still remember where I live."

He shrugged, realizing how stalkerish that sounded. So, because he was Noah Puckerman he said, "I'm good at remembering hot girls addresses." She froze, then he realized he just called her hot. But surprisingly, she let it slide. She bent down a little, to pick something up, and he had to admit he had a hard time concentrating on the road when her shirt dipped down like that. But before he could fully appreciate the view she drew back up, holding a book in her hands.

"Surprised that I read Berry?" He asked, remembering her book comment from the closet.

"Well, yes," she admitted. "But I'm just a little more surprised you read _this_." She said pointing to the book.

_Shit._ He thought, as she pointed to the cover.

"Not a lot of guys read _Twilight." _She said mockingly. He almost pointed out that it was the third book, actually titled 'Eclipse' but that would give him away.

"It's my sister's." He said defensively.

"Your sister's seven."

"Eight." He corrected gruffly.

She continued to stare at him for a long moment, before opening up the book. She flipped somewhere in the beginning and began to read in a whisper. "Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice, from what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire, but if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate, to say that destruction ice-"

He recognized the Robert Frost poem out of nowhere. "Is also great, and would suffice." She smiled and closed the book, placing it down gently.

"I just made Noah Puckerman recite poetry. From Twilight."

He just rolled his eyes. "What an accomplishment. You should have brought a tape recorder." He pulled up into her driveway, which he was surprised was empty. He turned to her for an explanation.

"My dad's are in New York for work." He nodded as she opened the door and started out. But before she really got out of the car, she slid back in and looked at him.

"Do you wanna come in?" He smirked but nodded, and followed her out of the car and up onto her porch. She carefully unlooked the door, carefully trying not to touch him, then led him inside the house. Very carefully, he made his way down the hall, looking back at Rachel, who was closing the door behind him.


	3. Pancake Flippin'

Puck stood awkwardly in her small kitchen as she got a drink for herself.

"Do you want a drink?" She asked, trying to be a good hostess. "We have coke, water, lemonade, tea, coffee-"

"That's okay." He said, cutting her off. "I'm not that thirsty." She nodded behind the cupboard and poured herself a glass of water. She took a deep breath, and a long sip, trying to steady herself. It wasn't the first time she had been alone with Puck in her house, but it was still nerve racking.

"So," He said, sliding closer to her. "What do you wanna do?"

"We can do homework. Or practice for Glee. Or watch a movie." She said nervously, moving a little too quickly from one to the next. She suddenly found her brain lacking oxygen by his sudden closeness.

"I vote movie." He said simply, turning around and walking back to the living room. The air in her head cleared, and she followed him back to the TV. She saw him sitting comfortably on the loveseat, arm around the back. It was the only sit that they had other than to armchair in the corner, but that had no real view.

"You can sit." He said, gesturing to the seat next to him. Rachel walked over slowly and sat down, perching herself on the edge of the seat. Puck stared at her wordlessly, and took one hand and pushed her back into the seat. He rolled his eyes and picked up the remote. "What do you wanna watch?"

She shrugged and took the remote from him. She strolled down the movie channels, searching for something she'd enjoy. She frowned; nothing good was currently playing, so she scooted down to her cabinet.

"No chick-flicks," Puck mumbled. "And no Broadway musical crap either." She frowned, that ruled out most of her collection. She sighed in defeat.

"Fine. You have left me with nothing but the classics." She said, tossing a DVD to him. He picked it up and scanned the cover.

"Berry, this is an animated Disney movie." He said, close to disgust.

"_Beauty and the Beast_ is a classic." He scrunched his eyebrows at her. "Don't tell me you've never seen it!" He rolled his eyes.

"Berry, I'm a dude. I don't watch Disney princess shit."

"Well, this is calls for drastic measures." She said, turning back to her cabinet. She skimmed the movie titles and picked out a few of her favorites, she had to show Puck what he was missing. She took out Beauty_ and the Beast_ and pushed it into the machine.

"Okay," She said, sitting back down on the couch. "We'll start with _Beauty and the Beast_ then move onto _Aladdin,_ then _The Little Mermaid_-"

"Yeah whatever Berry, I'll sit through your little gay fest, you got any popcorn?"

***

"This. Is. Crap."

"Noah," Rachel said, not taking her eyes away from the movie. "It's wonderful song-"

"It's so obvious she's lip syncing." He interrupted.

"Stop cutting me off! And it's an _animated_ movie Noah!" Rachel said irritably. He reached for the remote and press pause, turning to her.

"Fine. You sing it then." Rachel stared at him for a long moment. He looked at her expectantly. She sighed and began to sing the lyrics to one of her favorite Disney songs.

"_Look at this stuff__  
__Isn't it neat?__  
__Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?__  
__Wouldn't you think I'm the girl__  
__The girl who has everything?"_

She could see Puck smirking at her from the couch as she got up and sang._  
_

"_Look at this trove__  
__Treasures untold__  
__How many wonders can one cavern hold?__  
__Looking around here you think__  
__Sure, she's got everything__  
__I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty__  
__I've got whozits and whatzits galore__  
__You want thingamabobs?__  
__I've got twenty!__  
__But who cares?__  
__No big deal__  
__I want more"_

She started adding choreography to the song, twirling around in her living room, trying not to laugh.__

"_I wanna be where the people are__  
__I wanna see, wanna see them dancin'__  
__Walking around on those - what do you call 'em?__  
__Oh - feet!___

_Flippin' your fins, you don't get too far__  
__Legs are required for jumping, dancing__  
__Strolling along down a - what's that word again?__  
__Street___

_Up where they walk, up where they run__  
__Up where they stay all day in the sun__  
__Wanderin' free - wish I could be__  
__Part of that world___

_What would I give if I could live out of these waters?__  
__What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand?__  
__Bet'cha on land they understand__  
__That they don't reprimand their daughters__  
__Proper women sick of swimmin'__  
__Ready to stand___

_And ready to know what the people know__  
__Ask 'em my questions and get some answers__  
__What's a fire and why does it - what's the word?__  
__Burn?___

_When's it my turn?__  
__Wouldn't I love, love to explore that world up above?__  
__Out of the sea__  
__Wish I could be__  
__Part of that world…" __  
_

"Now that's real entertainment!" Puck said clapping. Rachel smiled and took a bow.

***

Rachel woke on the couch, snuggled up against Puck wrapped under a blanket. His armed was wrapped around her, her hand clutching it tightly. She immediately released her grip and struggled to get free.

"Berry?" She froze. "You awake?"

She nodded, then remembering he couldn't see her she said, "Yes. I'm awake. Sorry I fell asleep on you." She said, leaning on the other side of the couch.

"No problem." She reached for her phone to see what time it was. "Umm Noah?" He grunted. "It's four A.M. Where does your mom think you are?"

"Home, she and my sis are out of town. What about your folks?"

"It's there anniversary, they always go away for a couple weeks." There was a brief silence as they both realized neither parents would be expecting them any time soon.

"Hey, can you call me cell? I can't find it. It think I dropped it in the couch or something." Puck said, turning to Rachel slightly and turning on the lights. She nodded and scrolled down her contacts list to 'Noah'.

"_Sweet Caroline, good times never seemed so good…"_ Rachel laughed as Puck grinned somewhat sheepishly.

"That's your ringtone for me?" He nodded pulling his phone out of the couch, Rachel still laughing.

"Hey," He said defensively. "Don't act like yours isn't."

"It's not." She lied. He raised his eyebrows and looked down to his phone to call her number. She bit down on her lip as her phone vibrated and started humming to song he had serenaded her with.

"Busted."

***

They spent the rest of the unusually early morning talking and joking, and surprisingly enjoying each other's company. They were actually in the middle of a music genre debate when Puck's stomach growled noticeably.

"Berry, hear that? I'm starving! You got any food?"

She thought for a moment. "Well yes, we have plenty of protein shakes and some multi-grain cereal… Noah? Where are you going?" She asked as he got up and walked to her kitchen. She watched amused as he opened cabinet after cabinet trying to find something 'edible'.

"Ah ha!" He cried triumphantly, pulling out a bag of flour. "We'll make pancakes."

"You see, although I too love pancakes, I'm afraid your find is no use. I don't know how to make them and unless you've taking some cooking classes I don't know about I doubt you do either." Puck looked at her then back at the box.

"Well then, this should be interesting." He tore it open and started pouring it into a mixing bowl. She watched him disbelievingly.

"I swear, if you get a single spot on my kitchen I'll-"

"Shut it Berry, we need eggs!"

***

After several different batters and lots of useless egg shells, they finally managed to get the batter onto the pan in almost circle shapes. At least, Rachel got them in circles where as Puck preferred to attempt at others.

"All right Berry, ready for the hardest part?" She looked up at him.

"Which is…?"

"The flip." He said in a low threatening voice.

"No." She said simply. "It will ruin my kitchen and probably my hair."

He ignored her completely. "Okay let's do this." He got up behind her, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist and hands, forcing her to grab the pan. His hand masked hers, also gripping the pan as he said, "Ready?" She rolled her eyes and nodded. "One," She shivered in anticipation. "Two, three!" She bit hard down on her lip and closed her eyes, letting Puck move her hands up and the pancake fly into the air.

She waited to seconds and opened her eyes, searching for where it landed. "Noah?"

"Yes! We did it!" She glanced at surprise at the round pancake which was lying half up on the side of the pan. It wasn't dead center like it should be, but it was good enough for her. She let out a girlish giggle.

There was silence for a moment as the both realized they were in a somewhat intimate position, his arms wrapped around her, and for a moment the just gazed at each other.

And then the doorbell rang.


	4. Instincts

**Gosh, let me just say I understand if you want to club me to death. This took entirely TOO LONG to get out. Judging on the awful cliff I left you hanging on. I completely understand if you have totally forgotten what this story was about, but I urge you to read it again, because I have gotten wuite a few compliments for it.**

**Reading back, I'm not very proud of this story, it's not one of my best written ones, but I really like the idea and I kind of wish I pulled it off better.**

**Oh well. By the way, expect LOTS of mistakes, I have not proof read this even once in my haste to publish it. But of well, who cares :)**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Glee, would I really waste me time writing fan fiction and day dreaming that I do? **

* * *

The doorbell kept ringing, but neither of them moved. Rachel was seriously considering staying like that forever.

Puck was the first one to break away. "You should probably get that." She nodded and walked out of the kitchen.

She swung open the door.

"Hey Rachel." Somebody out there hated her.

"H-hi Finn."

* * *

A month ago, if someone had told him he would be hiding in Rachel Berry's coat closet while she talked to Finn, he probably would've laughed in their face. Actually no, he would probably have beaten them up, but you get the idea.

Right now he was just sort of praying that they didn't forget about him and just start making out. That was one thing he didn't need to see, or in this case, hear.

"Umm, Finn, I'm kind of busy-" She stopped in mid sentence and he heard her sigh softly. "Alright, you can come in." He heard heavy footsteps and the squeaking of the couch as they both sat down.

"So Finn, what is it you-" He cut her off.

"Is something burning?" _Shit! The pancakes!_

"Oh my goodness!" Rachel said as she leapt off the couch, Finn following close behind. Then as quietly as he could, Puck slipped out of the closet, and made a mad dash for the door.

* * *

She held back a curse as she threw the now ruined pancake into the trash, and proceeded to rinse the pan.

"You were making pancakes?" Finn asked, reminded her that he was still in the room, and Puck still in the closet.

"Oh, yes, I was, hungry." He nodded and smiled, filling her with an emotion she couldn't quite place. "So what did you say you wanted to talk about?"

He sighed. "I don't know. I just didn't feel like being at home. Things are kinda weird right now, with Burt and Kurt, have you noticed their names rhyme? Anyway, Kurt's seems really excited that are parents are dating, but every time I talk to his dad he gets really upset, so I'm not sure what to do about that… and I guess I just sorta wanted to see you."

Usually, that last sentence would make her swoon, but right now her head was full of thoughts of that _other boy_, and Finn's sensitivity was more annoying than sweet.

"Well that's really nice of you to come and pay me a visit."

And awkward silence filled the room as Finn gave her a long look.

"You're different." He announced after several minutes of careful consideration. "Or, you're acting different all of the sudden."

It was her turn to sigh. "I'm sorry Finn, I'm just… hungry." He continued to stare at her openly, not buying her act. She sat down slowly, and motioned for him to sit beside her. She hadn't expected this conversation to come so soon, especially with Puck in the audience, but maybe this would save her time, and unneeded pain.

"Finn, I know that we have a history. Now that you an Quinn have broken up, almost everybody expects us to become an item. But… I just don't think either of us are, well,I don't know." She groaned in her head. He was making her ramble. "I mean, I love being your friend Finn, but I'm not _in love _with you. And-"

Finn looked confused. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"Umm, I guess."

"We were never really together."

She groaned verbally this time. "Yes, I know, but I think if didn't have this conversation, that maybe at some point, we would have been."

He nodded. "Is it Puck?"

She should be shocked at his guessing ability, but then again, she wasn't known to be subtle with crushes. "I, yes." She was suddenly _very _aware of the tall boy in the closet. "I think so."

* * *

She waved at Finn one last time as he went out the door, glad to have her feelings off her chest. She walked on air to the closet, crossing her fingers as she opened it. Maybe this would be her chance.

She swung the door open and stared at disbelief at its emptiness, tearing back the coats, searching for some sign of the boy that had been hiding in the closet. Then finally, spotting red, she leaned down and picked up the only proof he had actually been there.

Fingering the material carefully, she slipped on the letterman jacket that read Puckerman.

* * *

Pucks eyes burned through the halls, in search of the small brunette. He hadn't talked to her since, as awkward as this sounds, she unceremoniously shoved him in her closet. He finally saw her as she peeked around the corner, ducking as a football hurled past her head.

"Rach!" He called as he caught up with her easily. She didn't say anything as she opened her locker and started collecting her books.

This stopped him for a minute. "Hi."

"Hi." She said without looking at him. Careful, her arm slid into her back pack, pulling out his letterman jacket, attempting to hand it to him.

He had completely forgotten he had left it there in his haste to escape, but now he was in no hurry to take it from her. "Keep it." He told her honestly, as he slid it around her shoulders. Her eyes widened but she did not object.

She was unusually quiet as he walked her to class, but she was smiling widely, so he figured all was well. But as they got closer to the Chemistry room her smile grew dimmer and dimmer, until he finally had to ask her what was wrong.

He pushed her up against the lockers gently, blocking her escape.

She sighed. "I talked to Finn when he came over Saturday."

He had to fight not to roll his eyes. Of course this was about _Finn_. "…and?"

She shook her shoulders with a newfound confidence. "And I told him that I no longer held any attraction to him. I told him that I had moved on." His jaw nearly dropped, because that was not what he was expecting. But after a few moments of silence he cracked into a smile.

"So why are you nervous all the sudden?"

"I have next class with him, and Quinn, so obviously…" He smiled even wider.

"Let's ditch then Berry." He was little disappointed she wouldn't get the chance to show off her new jacket, (plus he loved the way his name looked on her), but there was time for that later.

Her mouth dropped in protest. "What! I can't just skip school; I have a perfect attendance record to maintain! I Have never been sick, not once, and when I have, I dragged myself to school anyway. I Have never even _thought_ about ditching!"

He resisted the urge to kiss her pouty lips. "Stop thinking then Rach, just go."

* * *

"This is wrong on so many levels." She saw Puck roll his eyes. "It will ruin my grades.

"It's not that big of a deal, I ditch all the time."

"I rest my case."

She heard him laughed beside her as he turned another corner.

"Where are we going anyway?" He shrugged. She gaped openly. "You don't know? You're just _driving _without any idea? People have brains for a reason!"

"It's called instinct Berry."

She gritted her teeth in annoyance. "Will you stop calling me that? My name is Rachel. Not Berry. Though you preferred to be called by your last name, I rather like my first." She told him tartly. "I'm a big Friends fan." She added as an afterthought.

"You were named after a Friend's character?"

"I suppose you have a better story?" He shook his head.

"Naw, I was named Noah just because it's Jewish." He paused for a second, as if having a sudden thought, then turned another corner.

"It's nice name." Rachel thought out loud. "I don't understand why you use your last."

"You don't have to."

She fought back a sigh. This happened a lot. In her mind, Puck had a bit of a Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde idea going on. Good vs. Evil. Noah vs. Puck. For a while she could she Noah, the guy she understood, sweet and caring. But it was never for long. After a while he'd change back into Puck, and they'd disagree again.

He pulled into a the parking lot of a shopping mall on the bad side of town. She glanced around nervously as he gestured her out of the car.

"Where are we?" He took one look at her and laughed at the frightened expression on her face, and casually wrapped one arm around her.

"Don't freak out, I know where I'm going."

"To CVS?"

"No." He answered shortly as he tugged her around another car. Along to side of the lot was a small booth that read _Snow cones._ She nearly laughed out loud.

"Really Noah? Snow cones?" He scoffed.

"Way to be a non-believer, these snow cones are awesome." She shrugged and followed him up, as he order one cherry snow cone. "Is grape okay?" He asked turning to her, she just nodded, inwardly laughing as his eyes shone with excitement.

The lady handing him his snow cone. Rachel's eyes grew wide as saucers.

"Noah! That's absolutely huge! You're going get a heart attack from just eating it! And think of what the syrup would do to your voice."

"Chill Berry," Just as she was about to reprimand him again for the improper use of her last name, he took a spoon and stuck it in her mouth. Her jaw went slack with wonder.

She grabbed her own snow cone from the workers hand and started shoveling down ice at the speed of light, pausing only once to say, ".Delicous."

"He smirked as he leaned back against the booth. "Rachel Berry, you have been severely deprived."


End file.
